We are nearly finished laying the groundwork for Linda’s job search. In this session, we talked about each of her six primary jobs, asking the five Career Passion Questions:

Contribution: How did you do your job differently than others in the same job? Innovation: Did you create or bring innovations to your job, the process, your work duties, or your business tools in some lasting way? Initiative: What assignments did you volunteer for beyond your job responsibilities? Talents: Did your coworkers (clients, employees) look to you for some special knowledge, talent or ability? Passion: What did you enjoy about the work?

Answering these same five questions for each job probably felt repetitive. The magic is in seeing the links between her answers for different jobs. Linda discovered that there is a pattern to her super performance — she is both innovative and takes initiative wherever she works. For example, she helped a non-profit win a government grant from an entirely new source. She also negotiated a first time deal that guaranteed placement of books for her publishing employer. In both cases, she was innovative, creative, and fearless in going after results. In every job, she took initiative and volunteered for both public relations and community projects.

These STAR (Situation-Thinking-Action-Results) stories of success will also provide us with new achievement statements for Linda’s resume makeover. We will be adding achievements and giving less space to job responsibilities. The STAR stories will also be written and practiced so that Linda can tell them confidently and concisely (in less than a minute) in her interviews. There’s more detail about STAR stories in my book, New Resume New Career.

Next time, I will present Linda with a resume draft that we will edit together. She is getting very eager, since she has found a job in Marketing Communications she wants to apply for. I find this phenomenon is common with my clients — once they start working on their career search, jobs start coming into their awareness. Call it Law of Attraction, synchronicity, or an answer to prayer, focus works. What you think about — repeatedly — will come into your life.

AMG/Parade Digital

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